Robert Mugabe Plots Second Coming

The leader of Zimbabwe’s newest political party has met up with Robert Mugabe, leading to speculation about whether the former president is really done with politics.

Retired Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri says he visited the politician at home to update him on his new role as presidential candidate for the National Patriotic Front (NPF), which is made up of former Zanu-PF members who were ousted alongside Mr Mugabe in November.

Mr Mutinhiri, a veteran of the 1970s fight for independence, resigned from the ruling Zanu-PF last week, saying he believed the military intervention which unseated Mr Mugabe was unconstitutional.

The BBC’s Shingai Nyoka in Harare says many there believe Mr Mugabe and other ousted ministers have been working to form an alternative party which will challenge President Emmerson Mnangagwa in this year’s elections.

An unnamed government source told state-owned newspaper the Herald that “essentially, what it means is it’s the former president who is trying to stage a ‘second coming’ behind the person of the dutiful and beholden Ambrose Mutinhiri”.

According to the press release, however, it was a courtesy visit, and a chance for Mr Mutinhiri to thank Mr Mugabe for “a cherished opportunity to work with and under him in various national capacities”.

The Reuters news agency reports that NPF is planning to challenge the legality of President Mnangagwa’s government at the Constitutional Court.